Vehicular homicide trial set to begin

Published: Sunday, February 17, 2013 at 04:12 PM.

PANAMA
CITY
— The trial of a man accused of running down a young woman in
Panama
City
Beach
and driving off will hinge on whether the jury believes he didn’t know he’d hit anyone.

Whether Jeremiah Cahours hit Marija Kostova, a 21-year-old Macedonian visiting
Panama
City
Beach
on a J-1 visa, in July 2011 doesn’t appear to be in dispute. Kostova was killed and Cahours is charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death and vehicular homicide.

Jury selection in his trial is expected to happen today, barring a last minute change of plea or continuation, and that jury will hear testimony later in the week.

Prosecutors will present evidence that Kostova’s DNA was on the Cahours’ vehicle, and a passenger who was in the vehicle is expected to testify that he was running an errand for his girlfriend that night.

That witness,
Nicholas
Barnes, was Cahours’ roommate. In a deposition he said he never saw Kostova and didn’t know the vehicle had stuck anything.

On July 3, Barnes and Cahours were drinking and partying in their neighborhood, and when they left to go to the store, Barnes lit a mortar-tube firework and it fell to the floorboard of Cahours’ vehicle. The firework exploded very near the area where Kostova was struck and knocked from her bicycle; the explosion was loud and filled the vehicle cabin with smoke.

PANAMA CITY — The trial of a man accused of running down a young woman in Panama CityBeach and driving off will hinge on whether the jury believes he didn’t know he’d hit anyone.

Whether Jeremiah Cahours hit Marija Kostova, a 21-year-old Macedonian visiting Panama CityBeach on a J-1 visa, in July 2011 doesn’t appear to be in dispute. Kostova was killed and Cahours is charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death and vehicular homicide.

Jury selection in his trial is expected to happen today, barring a last minute change of plea or continuation, and that jury will hear testimony later in the week.

Prosecutors will present evidence that Kostova’s DNA was on the Cahours’ vehicle, and a passenger who was in the vehicle is expected to testify that he was running an errand for his girlfriend that night.

That witness, Nicholas Barnes, was Cahours’ roommate. In a deposition he said he never saw Kostova and didn’t know the vehicle had stuck anything.

On July 3, Barnes and Cahours were drinking and partying in their neighborhood, and when they left to go to the store, Barnes lit a mortar-tube firework and it fell to the floorboard of Cahours’ vehicle. The firework exploded very near the area where Kostova was struck and knocked from her bicycle; the explosion was loud and filled the vehicle cabin with smoke.

Another witness, Rebecca Shefland, was walking with Kostova when she was struck. She said she screamed for the vehicle to stop, and she would’ve expected the occupants to hear her through the open window. She said the driver hit Kostova and kept driving without so much as tapping the break while smoke poured from the windows.

But 10 months after giving an initial statement to investigators that downplayed Cahours’ alcohol consumption that night, Barnes told investigators Cahours made unusual statements that led him to believe Cahours may have been aware he’d hit someone.

Barnes said Cahours pulled the vehicle off the road after leaving the complex to air out the cabin and inspect the damage. While Barnes was looking at the interior damages, Cahours inspected the front of the vehicle. When they got back in, Cahours asked Barnes whether he thought they’d hit anything? Barnes said Cahours asked twice about a bicycle.

Investigators responded while Barnes and Cahours were out. As they approached the complex on their return, Barnes said he didn’t want to return and suggested they get a car wash, but they decided against it and returned home. They would’ve driven right past the active traffic homicide investigation.

Cahours was not charged for almost a year after Kostova’s death. He was arrested in late May 2012.

Cahours’ attorney, Al Sauline, said he expected the trial to take about two days, but he declined to comment on the specifics of the case.

“We’ll just let the story unfold in the courtroom,” Sauline said. “My client maintains his innocence, and he looks forward to his day in court.”

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